


the boy who found the sun

by warmthkeptinheart



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: ? - Freeform, F/M, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Magic, More characters to be added, Multi, but like botched up, fairy tale, kind of I just wanted a light fic ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 15:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14452149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warmthkeptinheart/pseuds/warmthkeptinheart
Summary: "Honestly how did you think this was going to go?""Oh, sorry that I didn't realize that the fallen star I've been searching for since I was six was incredibly attractive, you kind of left out that detail."





	the boy who found the sun

 “I’m going to go on an adventure.”

This was all the warning a little boy with raven-dark hair and olive skin gave his mother before he stepped outside their little home, the family dog in tow. Our little hero managed to walk ten steps, before he suddenly stopped, turned around, and walked back to the house.

It was a little cottage, more so than anything else. It was nestled in the crook of a forest that formed a ring around a vibrant and unpolluted lake, a little over two kilometers away from a sprawling town. There were mushrooms and flowers spurting out the cobbled pathway leading to the cottage, just like any other proper fairy tale house. Our hero stopped at one of these flowers, plucking it from its stem and walking inside the wooden building.

“Mama, I forgot your flower,” he announced, prancing into the house. His mother looked up from the stove, arching an eyebrow, and said nothing as her son dropped a scarlet flower on the kitchen counter before heading back outside.

Now, one may wonder why this woman was not stopping her little child from going out in search of adventure. If so, one may be relieved to know that this is a common occurrence in the di Angelo household. A normal day goes as follows:

Maria di Angelo wakes up at five a.m. to let out the dog, Mrs. O’Leary.

Mrs. O’Leary proceeds to wake up the eldest child, Bianca, who then prepares for school and leaves the cottage with a kiss on her mother’s cheek and bows in hair by precisely six-seventeen.

Maria di Angelo prepares meals for her youngest child before leaving for her job in the town: selling flowers, fruits, and vegetables. More often than not, Nico di Angelo will trundle down during this time, drink a glass of milk, and go play with his dog. He doesn’t particularly have many responsibilities, like most six-year-olds in stories like these.

Right before Maria leaves to prepare the cart and the walk into the village square, Nico will inform his mother of his plans for the day (“I’m going to go find a merman in the lake,” or “I’m going to meet lightning today.”) and then head out for his adventures after giving her a flower. Maria does not worry, for she knows Mrs. O’Leary will follow her son wherever he goes.

Perhaps in a modern retelling the mother would be stricken with anxiety, but this is a fairy tales, and little boys can do what they want in fairy tales.

Now that one may have a better understanding of the order of things, we may proceed with our story. As our hero trots down the cobblestone, Maria opens the window to call out, “Nicolino! Don’t forget to come back for lunch, I’m leaving the sandwiches covered here!”

“I know Mama, don’t worry, I’m not stupid! I’ll have Mrs. O’Leary and the merman!”

Maria rolled her eyes and sighed fondly at the comment. Nico had been preoccupied by this so-called “merman,” for the last two weeks. Although she knew very well of the beasts and species that existed across the world, she knew better than to think that a merman lived in their little lake rather than the wide open ocean that people spoke of.

Nico, however, had only six years’ worth of experience in their mythical land, so he had no such concerns of the practicality of things. He waved to his mother as she began her path through the forest, before marching down to the banks of the lake, and promptly throwing himself into the water.

“Persy! Persy!”

Mrs. O’Leary watched from the bank as if her owner throwing himself into the lake and yelling illogical sounds was a normal occurrence. One will find out that this, in fact, is a normal occurrence as of two weeks ago, if one chooses to turn their attention the burst of bubbles trailing towards Nico.

The little boy was suddenly thrown up in the air, and he shrieked in laughter as he flew up, up, and up. The black dog watched the show with some curiosity, before settling down in the sandy dirt. A small wave of water crept up and splashed her nose, and she let out a short bark before resting her head on her paws.

There was a gurgled laugh, and a dark hand tinted blue emerged from the water to pet her head. The dog let out a content sigh, before closing her eyes and leaving her guard to the mysterious being in the water.

“Persy! Again, again!”

In response to the calling, the hand crept back into the water, and the dark form that could just be seen under the depths of the water swept over to where Nico was treading off the side of the lake. It swam in a circle around him, before bursting out of a water and spraying the boy in a rainbow of droplets. Nico giggled happily, rubbing the water out of his eyes before looking up at the figure before him.

“Hi Persy!”

The merman smiled down at him, pushing his midnight-tinted hair out of his eyes. He was much bigger than Nico, but a quick glance to the face set his age in his preteen years. Although his skin was dark and tanned and his face was human, a cascade of sea-green scales fell against his arms and neck. A small set of sea-colored gills sprouted out of the area where his ears might have been, and another set of scales from his midriff led to what seemed to be a tail under the water. Bright eyes matched the coloring of his scales, and if you looked in them too long, it seemed as though you could get lost in the waves of the ocean.

“My name’s Perseus, Neeks.”

The little boy puffed out his cheeks at the nickname, his nose wrinkling and eyebrows furrowing. “And my name is Nico! So stop calling me that!”

Perseus laughed, ruffling Nico’s hair and sending a spray of water towards the bank in the process. Mrs. O’Leary slowly looked up at them, before letting out what sounded suspiciously like a sigh.

“Anyway, I didn’t come here to argue or play with you, so it doesn’t matter,” Nico supposed, slowly swimming back to the bank. Perseus pressed a hand against Nico’s back, guiding him to the land.

“So what for?”

Nico crawled next to the hound, wringing out his shirt as he spoke. Perseus settled as close to the edge of the water as he dared, eventually plucking a plant out of the water and playing with this leaves as his friend spoke. There were a few merpeople that could shift into legs, but those were rare. Persy wasn’t sure if he was one of them, he hadn’t had time to find out before he had been cursed to this land.

“I keep trying to find the lightning you told me about, but I just can’t. There’s no storms or anything. I went down to see the old witch in the forest, but he says there’s no adventures to go on. Mama and Bianca leave in the morning, and Mrs. O’Leary can’t talk. I don’t get to go to classes for two years. Your company is okay, but you can’t get out of the water and you can’t eat the same food as me. Persy, I’m so _bored._ ”

The merman squinted and tapped his chin thoughtfully. He could understand where his friend was coming from. Talking to the fish and animals in this lake was nice, and Nico was alright, but he did terribly want to go home. He knew that staying in the lake until he was of age was a punishment on his father, he didn’t particularly understand why _he_ was the one who had to be bothered. It was more so a punishment for him than for his father.

“Well,” Perseus said slowly, and idea dawning on him. “Why don’t you go find the star?”

Nico perked up, wet shirt forgotten, and immediately scooted closer to him. “An adventure! Are you saying there’s an adventure I can go on?”

“I’m not sure,” Persy admitted. “If someone hasn’t told the witch yet—when was the last time you saw her, anyway?”

The witch was the source of information, in these parts. It was said that she could see time before occurrence, that she could weave the tales of heroes, that she could bring objects to life with a brushstroke. Although she often turned away heroes looking for quests, she was happy to offer a bit of information to travelers and locals, with a small fee. However, she had a soft spot for Nico, as Persy learned during his time there, and often let the little boy know of new creatures and adventures before anyone else (this was how Nico had come to know of Persy, after all).

“Yesterday morning,” Nico said mournfully, dropping his head. “I waited a whole day to ask her again, but there still wasn’t anything!”

His companion nodded thoughtfully. “Well, last night, a star fell from the sky. I don’t know what stars do or what they look like, or if there’s anything at all, but I bet if you ask the witch today, she’ll tell you how to find it!”

In all honest, Perseus wasn’t sure if it truly was a fallen star on that day. He didn’t know much of the land worlds or the sky worlds yet, he had only learned of his own kingdom before he was banished. But he did understand that it wasn’t normal for them to fall, so when light had broken across the sky in a myriad hues as a spark flew across the wide open night sky, Perseus had started from his resting place at the bottom of the lake.

There had been a quiet rumble after the spark disappeared from sight, supposedly from when the star hit the ground, and all of a sudden, Perseus felt a wave of power ripple through to him. He had floated in stunned silence for a moment, unable to understand what had just happened. The feeling was familiar, but out here—he hadn’t ever expected to feel magic like that again.

Nico suddenly jumped up, pulling Perseus from his thoughts. He was emboldened by this new prospect. A star! He had never seen a fallen star before. His mother had pointed one out, years ago, and had told him to make a wish on one, but it had never occurred to him that he could go find one. He hurriedly thanked Persy, before patting Mrs. O’Leary with cheer and running through the banks and into the forest, leaving a chuckling merman behind.

...o...

It took Nico two thousand three hundred and twenty three steps to get to the witch’s cottage, and all his energy had practically run out by the time he arrived. Even the excitement from hearing of the star had faded away, replaced by exhaustion in his short little legs. Luckily for our little hero, the witch saw all before it happened, and was waiting patiently at the open door. She ushered him in and lifted him up onto the table, ruby curls bouncing and emerald eyes twinkling.

Nico took a moment to rest, slamming his face against the table and making a show of snoring loudly. The witch let out a small snort, before setting a cup of milk in front of him and taking a seat beside. She chewed her lip, as if contemplating something, before finally speaking to the boy.

“You’re here to ask about the star.”

The boy immediately perked up at the mention of his adventure, turning to his witch. “Yeah! The merman told me about it. I want to find it.”

The woman frowned, pressing a hand to her temple as Nico gulped down his milk. It had been a long time since she had heard of an Early One falling. Even know, the only thing keeping her from throwing away the idea was the layer of magic singing through the fields. No mortal would be able to feel it, but the power shifted and scurried through the land, invigorating all the magic users within it.

She had been expecting Nico to come to her, but she wasn’t sure how to explain the circumstances to the young boy. After all, not many mortals understood what a star truly was. The young one would readily accept the information, but it surely wouldn’t dissuade him from going to find the Early One.

After another moment of contemplation, and a begging look from Nico, the witch slowly began. It was better to start with the basics and stay vague rather than explain the history to the little boy. He was still so young, he still had time to keep a pure mind.

“Stars are more than just the blinking lights in our skies, sometimes. When a star falls, mortals can finally see that. There is...something more to these celestial beings than smattered flicks against our night’s tapestry. Many cannot wrap their head around this idea, but I hope that telling you young will help you to understand. My Nico,” she pressed her hands against his shoulders, and he looked up, surprised, “You must never find the fallen star. You must avoid it all costs.”

The boy squirmed, pushing away her arms and scooting back in his chairs, already frustrated. “Why? It’s only just--”

“It’s not _only_ anything, Nico. The stars are more than you or I could ever understand. Their hearts and souls have a different level of worth, their curses and blessings of a new caliber. No one who has found a star has come with a sound mind. This one, that fell last night, was the strongest one I have ever experienced. Fallen stars aren’t uncommon, but this one has more power than you could ever imagine. This isn’t like the lightning or the merman or the gnomes, Nico. This is a force we do not understand yet. They are not from this world.”

The little one froze, as if suddenly understanding the warning that had been presented to him. They sat for moments on, and the witch waited in worry for his response. Although she had attempted vagueness, the last thing she desired was for Nico to ask more questions. The history of the first worlds and Early Ones were not something she could grant to a small child.

“...I still want to find it.”

She sighed, “Nico--”

“So train me.”

Silence.

“ _What?_ ”

“You have to know about them. Maybe I won’t find the star right now, since I’m so little, but it’s not like they can go to the sky again, right? So teach me about the stars, and I’ll find it when I can.”

The woman sat back, stunned, as the boy looked at her with wide eyes. He reminded her so much of…

“Alright. I’ll teach you how to meet the faeries.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I,,,haven't posted anything in a while. I wanted a simple fic to get back into things, I don't expect much feedback back from this hfkfn but ! still !! comments and kudos and everything mean a lot to me. I hope you liked the beginning of this!


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